The present invention relates to a drawer system for storing and transporting tools, machinery parts, building materials and the like on vehicular load-carrying surfaces, such as the beds of pickup trucks or the cargo-carrying floors of utility vehicles. More particularly, the invention relates to an easily-installable accessory-type drawer system of modular, stackable construction adaptable to a wide variety of configurations and volumetric space requirements depending upon the particular vehicle in which the system is to be installed.
Modular stackable drawer systems for various applications are well known, such as those shown in Smith U.S. Pat. No. 129,688 and Belgian published patent application No. 547,130. However drawer systems suitable for use in vehicles must normally be custom built to fit each particular vehicle's configuration and space requirements in order to secure the drawer system against the dynamic forces of braking, acceleration, turning and vertical oscillation commonly encountered in vehicles. Existing modular stackable drawer systems are not well adapted to maintain stable positions and resist movement under such dynamic conditions.
Existing modular drawer systems are also not well adapted to provide stable, yet lightweight, resistance to vertical loading in vehicles. This is likewise due to the lack of resistance of existing drawer systems to dynamic conditions, as well as deformation of the walls of such systems when subjected to vertical loads, which impedes the slidability of the drawers.